Statistical designs are being developed and sample sizes determined for three CDP, NINCDS, project plans. They are: a study of the acquisition of communicative skills through speech, sign or total communication in the congenitally deaf; a study to evaluate the outcome of language learning through speech and/or sign in the congenitally deaf; and a population-based cohort study to evaluate the impact and treatment of speech and language disorders in children. The status of this project is indeterminate due to lack of program funding.